"Greetings to Princess Niohuru." Xiao Luzi bowed deeply.
Shen knew who was walking towards her. She raised her eyes slightly and gave a gentle and polite glance, without much scrutiny.
She nodded politely and squatted slightly, concealing the slight surprise in her eyes.
Niohuru Gege, the Niohuru clan member who was the birth mother of the Qianlong Emperor in history?
Just now, when Madam Shen glanced at her, she was indeed a stunning beauty. Everyone has an appreciation for beauty, so when Madam Shen looked up again, she smiled politely.
Seeing that Madam Shen was being so polite, Lady Niohuru quickly stepped forward to help her up, saying, "Madam, you're too kind. I just happened to come to the garden to pick plum blossoms. It's getting cold, so I'll take my leave now."
Behind Niohuru, Huiyun was indeed holding several plum blossoms still covered in snow. Shen smiled politely and said, "Good."
She waited for Niohuru to pass by her before taking her first steps outside.
Seeing this, Xiao Luzi added a few more words: "This Princess Niohuru has recently become quite friendly with our princess, what a coincidence..."
Shen lowered her eyes and pondered over what Niohuru had just said.
"I just happened to be picking plum blossoms in the garden..." But as soon as she squatted down, the Niohuru woman came forward to help her up. Her attitude was far too enthusiastic on their first meeting.
Madam Shen casually remarked, "This Princess Niohuru sounds like a very kind person."
Xiao Luzi had no doubts: "Not at all. This Princess Niohuru usually keeps to herself and only occasionally has some contact with our master, who is always with her."
Madam Shen had even more doubts, but she wasn't sure whether Niohuru's friendliness was well-intentioned or malicious, so she didn't say anything more: "Your master is so fortunate to have you all serving him so attentively..."
Xiao Luzi dared not respond to these words, and so the topic of Niohuru clan that had just been brought up was easily dropped.
After Xiao Luzi escorted the lady to her home and returned to the east courtyard, he saw Qiu Ci under the eaves winking at him.
It takes about half an hour to get from the Fourth Master's residence to the Li family's current residence, and a round trip takes an hour.
"Master is here? I just saw Fulu sneak into the side room." Xiao Luzi grabbed a handful of melon seeds.
Qiu Ci gestured towards the inside and said, "The master arrived a quarter of an hour ago. The masters are all asleep now. Go and keep him company in the side room."
"Brother Su is here too?" Xiao Luzi addressed him as a brother.
Qiu Ci hummed in agreement, then asked in a low voice if anything had gone wrong.
Xiao Luzi stuffed the melon seeds into his pocket and rubbed his hands together lightly: "Everything went smoothly. I just ran into Princess Niohuru when I left the manor, but we only exchanged a few pleasantries. The plum blossoms in the garden are blooming beautifully, and the Second Princess likes them. I'll go pick some later."
Qiu Ci said, "Let Dong Sheng go. That kid has some free time right now."
Just then, Dongsheng came out of the Fourth Prince's room and Xiaoluzi was heading towards the side room when he called out to him.
"Who is standing next to the Fourth Prince?" Qiu Ci asked.
"Both wet nurses are here, and Sister Green Plum is embroidering a cloth tiger in front of them."
Green Plum's embroidery skills were excellent; the cloth tiger she sewed was not only loved by the Second Princess, but also cherished by the Fourth Prince.
"Don't worry, Sister, Green Chrysanthemum and the two wet nurses are with Second Princess." Dongsheng added after answering.
Qiu Ci threw melon seeds at him: "Keep your voice down. If you disturb the masters, you'll be in trouble."
The maids and servants all had their own tasks to do.
Inside, the master and his servant slept until evening. In the first month of the lunar year, it gets dark early. When Qiu Hu opened the inner door, Qiu Ci and Lv Zhu were already outside, preparing tea and holding copper basins.
Qiu Hu touched the copper basin, took it, and then Green Bamboo lifted the curtain to watch the two older sisters go in.
She kept going to the small kitchen; it was time to set out dinner.
Inside, Li Chenjiao and the Fourth Master got up. Li Chenjiao tidied her hair, which took a while, while the Fourth Master had already gotten up and sat cross-legged on the soft couch in the outer room.
Li Chenjiao looked up and met the Fourth Master's gaze.
When Li Chenjiao woke up, her face was still flushed from sleep, and she seemed embarrassed when she looked at Fourth Master.
"It seems like you're being served a bit too much here." Fourth Master said, supporting Li Chenjiao's arm as she sat down opposite him.
Li Chenjiao sat down and glanced at the maids serving outside after hearing these words.
"It seems to be more than enough for me now, but I would like to ask you for a favor."
Fourth Master leaned against the large pillow, glanced at Li Chenjiao, and gestured for her to speak.
Li Chenjiao rested her chin on her hand: "Wanwan will be going to the front courtyard to study in February. As for the pearl, I think we don't need to worry about it so much."
Before the New Year, the Fourth Prince sent a list of names of girls, all of whom had good family backgrounds and were of suitable age. Li Chenjiao had met them a few times, but the Fourth Prince seemed a bit indifferent to her.
Upon hearing this, the Fourth Master paused for a moment and said, "Four is not too many." It can be considered extremely few.
The Second Prince originally had eight Haha beads in front of him, plus two more sent from the Ulanara family.
However, because the second prince was weak and could not withstand noise, two more were taken.
Li Chenjiao also found it noisy. She could tolerate it with her own child, but she could watch other people's children peacefully, though she might not be able to stand it.
Two fewer girls were left around the Second Princess, one of whom, the oldest, was because she liked to hang around Wanwan...
The two who remained were both quiet and reserved, and unlikely to make decisions on their own.
Li Chenjiao's point is that quality is more important than quantity. However, the Second Princess already has quite a few dowry servants, so Li Chenjiao might look for two more later.
The Fourth Prince had slightly fewer attendants.
After discussing it, the two decided to choose four "haha beads" for the Fourth Prince, but they would take turns serving him. Li Chenjiao's method was that two of them would accompany him when he went to school, and two more would accompany him on other days.
Then, out of nowhere, Fourth Master asked, "Haha, why didn't you choose someone from Li Chenjiao's family?"
Li Chenjiao immediately rolled her eyes at Fourth Master. What family would really want to send their child away? Besides, where would they find any children of school age? Her nephew? She herself found this house a mess; could she really rely on her own abilities?
This is not the time to pull them up.
Picking up haha beads is about cultivating confidants. Cultivation means starting with people you don't know well.
She had discussed these matters with her mother before her fourth son was even born.
She knew perfectly well that none of the servants around the Fourth Master had any connection with Lady Wuya.
Having relatives or friends has its advantages, but not having them also has its disadvantages.
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